GSM Questions

[maroon2]

Big fan of GSMs here and have had them since I started in the hobby. I have 2 questions though. Why do all maroon clowns turn so dark in captivity. All captive born maroon clowns I've seen are a very dark reddish maroon color. My female has turned from an orangeish red to that dark maroon. Also how big do males get in a pair? As far as them being full grown.
Pics for reference
day I got my female about 9 mo ago

Now

 

[maroon2]

Any maroons I've seen that were wild caught over time always turn

 

[Mike31154]

I have a Maroon pair, not gold stripe though, just the run of the mill white stripe variety. It's the nature of the beast and the female will typically become quite dark. Not sure captivity has anything to do with them getting darker with age. I purchased both mine as juveniles about six months apart and went through the pairing ordeal. No idea whether they were wild caught or tank bred. They were both bright red as juveniles with a nice dark fringe along the edge of the fins. The female is now at least 3 inches in size if not larger and very dark. The male is tiny in comparison, somewhere around 1.5 inches and quite red in comparison. The name Maroon should be a good indication of the adult coloration, it is quite a dark colour, so should be no surprise really. Here are a few photos of my pair. Don't recall when each was taken, but should give a bit of an idea of size difference and gradual change in colour.

There's no doubt some variation in colour of the photos due to camera settings and varied lighting. Your gold stripe female is a beautiful specimen.

 

[maroon2]

Thanks. I see what you mean. My male is more of an orange red. Maybe he'll stay that way. As far as size I know the females can get up to just over 6" just wondering how big the males get in comparison. I've read in some books that males can get up to around 3-4" for large specimens in an established pair. maybe some folks can comment on their own pairs.

 

[landlord]

Some pics for reference





Kurt

 

[maroon2]

Cool, so basically about 1/3 the size of the female.

 

[Cheebs]

I particularly enjoy the darker coloration of the maroons as they mature, nothing to be bummed about that's for sure It makes them looks badass!

 

[TCT]

I have two pairs of GSM's currently. Both females are the deep maroon color. Both males are pretty red. One of them brilliant red. He is a very beautiful fish. As for the size difference, I think the aforementioned male being 1/3 the size of the female is pretty accurate.

 

[maroon2]

It also seems some of the gold has faded a bit. Is that normal? BTW mine are wild caught.